Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Trading of equities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed on a positive note on Tuesday as modest gains recorded by 22 stocks led by Nigerian Breweries gave a new life to the stock market after its journey to the red zone for days.
The market breadth also ended positive today with only 14 losers, however, the volume of transactions and market turnover depreciated by 21.17 percent and 32.93 percent respectively.
Business Post reports that the market capitalisation rose by N41.3 billion to settle at N12.6 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 119.89 points to close at 36,531.62 points.
As more quoted firms on the stock exchange release their third quarter earnings, investors continue to get swayed by the results.
A total of 199.9 million shares worth N1.8 billion were traded by investors on Tuesday 3,657 deals compared with 253.5 million shares valued at N2.7 billion exchanged on Monday in 3,609 deals.
It was observed that banking stocks still remained investors’ toast, leaving UBA as the most transacted in terms of volume, exchanging 33.6 million units worth N303 million.
Access Bank sold 21.7 million shares for N215.4 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 20.7 million shares valued at N31.4 million.
Zenith Bank exchanged 12.1 million shares at N308.9 million, and Jaiz Bank transacted 11.4 million shares for N7.4 million.
On the price movement chart, Nigerian Breweries was the highest gainer, adding N4 to its share price to close at N161 per share.
It was followed by NASCON, which increased by N1.33k to finish at N14.33k per share, and UAC Nigeria, which rose by 62k to end at N17.51k per share.
Dangote Sugar expanded by 39k to settle at N14.39k per share, while Dangote Flour chalked by 25k to close at N7.15k per share.
Conversely, Dangote Cement led the losers’ log after going down by 99k to finish the day at N219 per share.
It was trailed by Cadbury, which fell by 50k to close at N10 per share, and C&I Leasing, which depreciated by 9k to settle at N1.71k per share.
Honeywell Flour also lost 9k to close at N1.85k per share, while Transcorp declined by 7k to end at N1.36k per share.
Investors are upbeat that the positive momentum recorded today would be continued tomorrow as more companies release their financial statements for the first nine months of this year.
